2003 Competitive Sourcing Report

During FY 2003, NSF conducted no competitions and no positions in the
agency were studied for competition. NSF has no competitions scheduled
for FY 2004.

Alignment of Competitive Sourcing and Strategic Workforce Planning

The National Science Foundation is conducting a multi-year, comprehensive,
integrated analysis of its business processes and workforce and technology
management. This analysis began in July 2002 and is expected to continue
through the end of FY 2005. The business analysis supports the recent
addition of a new section in NSF’s strategic plan entitled “Organizational
Excellence” which focuses on the business operations of the National
Science Foundation. Results of the business analysis are expected to
articulate the optimum relationships between NSF’s business processes,
human capital management, and supporting tools and technologies; to align
these processes with the strategic direction of the agency; and to measurably
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of NSF management activities.

In the area of human capital management, NSF is developing a strategic
approach to workforce planning that evaluates mission needs, customer
expectations, workload and the future direction of the Foundation. This
effort includes the development of a comprehensive strategy for human
capital management and action plans for recruiting, retaining, educating
and developing, motivating, and transitioning employees that are based
on competencies. NSF is adopting a forward-looking approach and is making
use of interim findings as they become available. For example, NSF has
defined “as is” job families based on competencies and is using these
families as the construct for developing its FAIR Act Inventory. The
use of job families as the basis for the inventory will help focus NSF’s
competitive sourcing efforts. The job families and associated competencies
are also the framework around which NSF’s learning management system,
and workforce and succession planning activities will be built.

The business analysis will, both in the short and long term, result
in significant changes to NSF’s organizational structure and staff composition.
NSF considers competitive sourcing an important tool for effecting changes
suggested by business analysis findings. As such, NSF’s planning for
competitive sourcing is continually reevaluated and modified as findings
and recommendations become available.